Coat-of-Arms: November 11, 2009 - Macedonia has become the latest country in South Eastern Europe to announce a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, and the latest to hear vociferous complaints from restaurant owners that their businesses will be ruined.Currently, the law says that smoking may be allowed in no more than half the area of a bar or restaurant, but Macedonian media reports said that this rule is widely ignored.

Macedonia intends banning smoking in restaurants and cafes from January 1 2010. Customers caught smoking will face fines of the equivalent of 150 euro (224.41 USD) to 300 euro (448.77 USD), while restaurants and cafes that break the rules will be fined from 2000 to 4000 euro.

The new law also bans the sale of cigarettes to people younger than 16. Those who do will be fined 2000 euro (2,992.60 USD) to 4000 euro (5,985.68 USD).Macedonia's A1 television said that proprietors would seek a meeting with authorities to ask for a reconsideration of the ban, Bulgarian news agency Focus said.

Bulgaria's northern neighbour and fellow EU member Romania has taken the route of increased excises - twice in 2009 - on the way to matching EU levels in 2010. Lithuania also has twice raised excises in 2009, pushing cigarette prices up by close to 50 per cent in a year.